Ex-Tiffany VP accused of $1.3 million jewelry theft

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend—unless you’re Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun.

Yesterday prosecutors arrested Lederhaas-Okun, a former Tiffany & Co. vice president of product development, for stealing diamond, platinum and gold bracelets, earrings and pendants from her ex-employer and reselling them for $1.3 million. She’s charged with wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property.

According to a statement from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, Lederhaas-Okun had authority to check out jewelry from Tiffany to take to potential manufacturers so they could calculate production costs. According to the complaint, Lederhaas-Okun checked out 165 pieces of jewelry between January 2011 and February 2013 and resold them to an unnamed Manhattan jewelry reseller.

Tiffany let Lederhaas-Okun go in February when it downsized companywide. It was then that the famed jeweler discovered that she had checked out and not returned the jewelry.

“As alleged, Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun went from a vice president at a high-end jewelry company to jewel thief,” Bharara said in the statement.